Windows 9 users, rumors, betas, tips and tricks (1 Viewer)

[Sam Posten]

New screenies leak:http://www.theverge.com/2014/7/21/5924013/windows-9-screenshots-start-menu

 

[Todd Erwin]

I will miss the days of an enterprise operating system when Microsoft stops supporting Windows 7.

 

[DaveF]

That's an interesting screenshot that I won't see professionally for ten years. (Win7 was deployed this year.)

 

[Clinton McClure]

I just can't get over how ugly and poorly executed the metro UI is. If Microsoft would get rid of it, Windows 8 wouldn't be bad. It's faster and supposedly more secure than Win7 but the heinous metro interface (even though it can be bypassed) is a deal breaker for me as far as installing on my MacBook Pro for work purposes. With those screenshots, I imagine I'll take a pass on Windows 9 as well and keep using 7 Pro in a virtual machine.

 

[Sam Posten]

Smart moves IMO:
http://www.zdnet.com/microsofts-windows-threshold-expected-to-add-virtual-desktops-drop-charms-7000032401/

 

[Clinton McClure]

Well I managed to hose myself last week. I had been running Win7 from bootcamp and decided I wanted to try using Parallels so I wouldn't have to reboot to use the two Windows programs which I use on a regular basis. When I installed Win7, I saved almost $100 and bought an OEM copy from Newegg instead of the full retail license. It never occurred to me that when I tried to run my bootcamp partition through Parallels, Microsoft's stupid anti-piracy feature would see the virtual machine as a new system and invalidate my copy of Windows. Not only did it invalidate it in Parallels, it also invalidated it in bootcamp. I contacted Microsoft and explained to them that I wanted to completely remove the bootcamp partition and install Win7 via Parallels on the same computer, using the same MOBO, NIC, etc... They told me to go pound sand and they would not revalidate my copy of Windows... I would have to purchase another license.

I could have bought another OEM copy of Win7 Professional (or a full retail version for that matter), but I decided to try Windows 8.1 since I could get the retail Pro version on sale for close to the price of the OEM Pro version and I could transfer the license to another machine if I decided to upgrade MacBook pros in a year or two. Plus, I had just read an article stating Microsoft was putting the start menu back into Win8.1. It turns out, after I bought and installed it, I discovered Microsoft, in their infinite wisdom, decided to delay the start menu until Win9. Despondent, I turned to stardock.com and installed Start8. (It was free with Parallels so why not?) and told parallels to make Win8 act like Win7.

This has really solved my Windows 8.1 problem. I can completely avoid the metro UI start screen altogether now and actually make good use of Win8.1. I don't know what is supposed to be faster about Win8, it works exactly the same as Win7 did. Programs open and operate at the same speed.

I can't say definitively that Win8.1 is better than Win7, but I can say that Start8 and the ability to bypass the metro UI makes it useable. Still not as intuitive as OS X, but to be fair, I didn't think Win7 was very intuitive either.

 

[DaveF]

The best value to risk with Windows 7 has been the three-install upgrade Family Pack. I've used that for 7 for a few years and it has weathered multiple simultaneous Mac installs and numerous reinstalls. There is some risk in fresh install, but so far it always works.I don't know about Win 8, if it follows the same Win 7 options. In any case, I've got an ancient version of Matlab that requires Win7 be run in Win95 compatible mode to operate. So Win8 is a bridge too far for now.

 

[Patrick_S]

I don't know what you did wrong Clinton but I have never experienced the problems you are describing when reinstalling Windows.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Patrick - It is my understanding that the OEM version of Windows is tied to MOBO, CPU, etc... upon initial activation. Even though the Parallels VM uses the same hardware, Windows apparently reported I was trying to install it in two different machines and it invalidated the license in both Bootcamp and Parallels. (Didn't expect that to happen.) I tried removing Windows from Parallels and reactivating the Bootcamp install, but it kept failing. I removed the Bootcamp partition entirely and reinstalled through Parallels but it wouldn't activate there either. I ended up calling MS support and explained to them what I was doing and asked if my copy could be reactivated but they politely refused, telling me they no longer support OEM reactivation in cases like this, only retail. From reading I have been doing, reactivation in cases like this is sometimes random and apparently at the discretion of whichever MS henchman answers the phone at the support center. Oh well, 8.1 is installed now so what's done is done.

 

[Sam Posten]

Official unveiling on Sept. 30th.
http://www.theverge.com/2014/9/15/6151417/windows-9-event-september-30th-san-francisco